Summary

This study contains data on the political, social,
economic, religious, ecological, and demographic characteristics
of 32 Black African nations in the late 1950s and 1960s. Data
are provided on political regime characteristics, such as the
existence and nature of political parties, elections, the
nature of the judicial system, the extent of government
influence, and the occurrence of riots, civil violence,
terrorist activities, civil wars, irredentist movements, and
coup d'etats. Economic variables provide information on
government revenues, government expenditures, gross domestic
capital formation, public investment as a percentage of the
gross domestic product (GDP), gross national product (GNP),
defense budgets, energy, investment, labor, number of wage
earners as a percentage of active population, industrial
production, electricity production, per capita energy
consumption, educational expenditures, economic welfare,
consumer price index, international economic aid, total
international trade, imports and exports, agriculture,
and membership in major African multilateral economic
organizations. Also included is information on the military
and security systems, Africanization of the army officer
corps, international relations, membership in nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs), communication and transportation,
and social welfare. Other variables provide information
on population estimates and characteristics, population
density, settlement patterns, cultural pluralism, language,
religion, primary and secondary school enrollment, family
organization, patrilineal kin groups, class stratification,
and the number of physicians per population.